Table of Contents

Erik -- Pernelle -- And this is where the story begins -- Progress -- The old and the new.

Abstract The history of America, many historians argue, is the history of its small towns. Norwegian American scholar Odd S. Lovoll takes the premise one step further in Norwegians on the Prairie, tracing the development of three midwestern towns whose histories reveal a distinctively ethnic flavor. Benson, Madison, and Starbuck, all located on the western Minnesota prairie, were settled primarily by Norwegians and served as urban centers - railroad hubs, destinations for trade, gathering...

Table of Contents Preface -- Introduction -- Chapter I: The emigrants' dilemma -- Chapter II: The Värmland background -- Chapter III: Anders Johannesson: The Halland beginnings -- Chapter IV: Settling in: Kansas Lake -- Chapter V: Lars and Caroline at Kansas Lake -- Chapter VI: Conflict -- Chapter VII: Missing Lars -- Chapter VIII: New problems -- Chapter IX: Finding Lars -- Chapter X: Early trial reports -- Chapter XI: On trial -- Chapter XII: The verdict -- Chapter XIII: The response -- Chapter XIV: At...